Diego Barrera (born March 25, 1987 in

Bogotá Bogotá (, also , , ), officially Bogotá, Distrito Capital, abbreviated Bogotá, D.C., and formerly known as Santa Fe de Bogotá (; ) during the Spanish period and between 1991 and 2000, is the capital city of Colombia, and one of the larges ...

) is a

Colombia Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with insular regions in North America—near Nicaragua's Caribbean coast—as well as in the Pacific Ocean. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Car ...

n-born

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

player.

Career

College and amateur

Barrera is a professional american football player from

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

. He attended

Thousand Oaks High School Thousand Oaks High School (TOHS) is a high school in Thousand Oaks, California, United States. Established in 1962, it is part of the Conejo Valley Unified School District. It has a suburban campus with one story buildings primarily accessed by co ...

, and played three years of

college soccer College soccer is played by teams composed of soccer players who are enrolled in colleges and universities. It is very prominent in United States, Japan, South Korea, Canada, and as well as in South Africa and the Philippines. The United Kingd ...

Loyola Marymount University Loyola Marymount University (LMU) is a private Jesuit and Marymount research university in Los Angeles, California. It is located on the west side of the city near Playa Vista. LMU is the parent school to Loyola Law School, which is located ...

, where he was named to the College Soccer News All-Freshman Third Team, the All-WCC second team and the WCC All-Freshman Team in his debut year in 2004. He transferred to the

University of New Mexico The University of New Mexico (UNM; es, Universidad de Nuevo México) is a public research university in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Founded in 1889, it is the state's flagship academic institution and the largest by enrollment, with over 25,400 ...

prior to his senior year in 2007. During his college career and beyond, Barrera played extensively with numerous Southern California teams in the

USL Premier Development League USL League Two (USL2), formerly the Premier Development League (PDL), is a semi-professional developmental soccer league sponsored by United Soccer Leagues in the United States and Canada, forming part of the United States soccer league syste ...

, including the

San Fernando Valley Quakes San Fernando Valley Quakes was an American association football, soccer team based in Calabasas, California, Calabasas, California, United States. Founded in 2006, the team played in the USL Premier Development League (PDL), the fourth tier of th ...

(twice),

Hollywood United Hitmen Hollywood United Hitmen was an American soccer team based in Los Angeles. The team was founded in 2009 and played in the National Premier Soccer League (NPSL) and the USL Premier Development League (PDL). The team played its home games in Cougar ...

and

Ventura County Fusion Ventura County Fusion is an American soccer team based in Ventura, California, United States. Founded in 2006, the team plays in USL League Two, the fourth tier of the American Soccer Pyramid. The team plays its home games in the stadium on the ...

(twice). He also made a Walmart TV commercial for the Fifa World Cup year 201
Mom Knows Walmart

Professional

Barrera signed his first professional contract in March 2011, joining

USL Pro The USL Championship (USLC) is a professional men's soccer league in the United States that began its inaugural season in 2011. The USL is sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation (U.S. Soccer) as a Division II league since 2017, pl ...

club

Wilmington Hammerheads Wilmington Hammerheads FC was a semi-professional American soccer team based in Wilmington, North Carolina. Founded in 1996, the team last competed in the Premier Development League, the fourth tier of the American Soccer Pyramid in 2017. History ...

. He made his professional debut on May 14, 2011, coming on as a second-half substitute in a 3-1 win over

F.C. New York F.C. New York was an American professional soccer team based first in Queens, New York City, and then Long Island, New York. The team played two seasons, starting in 2011 in the National Division of the USL Professional Division, the third tier ...

. After the season at Wilmington, he played professional indoor soccer with the

Syracuse Silver Knights Syracuse may refer to: Places Italy *Syracuse, Sicily, or spelled as ''Siracusa'' *Province of Syracuse United States *Syracuse, New York **East Syracuse, New York **North Syracuse, New York *Syracuse, Indiana *Syracuse, Kansas *Syracuse, Misso ...

in the MISL, before returning to California. Barrera then joined his home town based team, amateur side

Cal FC Cal or CAL may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Cal'' (novel), a 1983 novel by Bernard MacLaverty * "Cal" (short story), a science fiction short story by Isaac Asimov * ''Cal'' (1984 film), an Irish drama starring John Lynch and Helen Mir ...

in the

USASA The United States Adult Soccer Association (USASA) is a national organization for amateur soccer in the United States. It consists of 55 state organizations as well as national, regional and state leagues. The National Premier Soccer League, NISA ...

-affiliated La Gran Liga de Oxnard based in

Oxnard, California Oxnard () is a city in Ventura County, California, United States. On California's South Coast, it is the most populous city in Ventura County and the 22nd-most-populous city in California. Incorporated in 1903, Oxnard lies approximately west ...

. Year 2013 he signed his first contract in the Philippines with the first division team STALLION FC and have won the United Football League Division One Championship. He then transferred to team Soccoroo for the second quarter of 2014 and loaned by KAYA FC for the UFL CUP 2014. In year 2015 KAYA FC signed him and made a big contribution. KAYA FC won their first championship in CUP 2015. In the following year, 2016 he moved to Bangkok, Thailand and he made a huge contribution that awarded him as the 2016 BEST PLAYER OF THE YEAR. Year 2016, he was also the Top Goalscorer with 17 goals and 14 assists in 22 games played as consistent starting line up player. In February 2021, Barrera joined

National Independent Soccer Association The National Independent Soccer Association (NISA) is a professional men's soccer league in the United States. The league is in the third tier of American soccer and began play in 2019. NISA initially used a fall-to-spring season format with a ...

club

Los Angeles Force Los Angeles Force is an American professional soccer club based in Los Angeles, California, that plays in the National Independent Soccer Association (NISA). History On August 2, 2019, the National Independent Soccer Association announced the a ...

Personal

Diego Barrera is married to Eva Barrera (m.2014). Diego's younger brother,

Danny Barrera Daniel Francisco Barrera (born January 8, 1990) is a professional soccer player who plays as a midfielder for Hartford Athletic in the USL Championship. Born in Colombia, he has represented the United States at youth level. Early life and educa ...

, is also a professional soccer player.

Honors

Club

;Stallion * UFL Division 1:

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fact ...

References

External links

LMU profile

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Barrera, Diego 1987 births Living people Colombian men's footballers Footballers from Bogotá Colombian emigrants to the United States Colombian expatriate men's footballers American men's soccer players New Mexico Lobos men's soccer players Hollywood United Hitmen players San Fernando Valley Quakes players Syracuse Silver Knights players Ventura County Fusion players Wilmington Hammerheads FC players Cal FC players USL League Two players USL Championship players United States men's youth international soccer players Expatriate men's footballers in the Philippines American sportspeople of Colombian descent Kaya F.C.–Iloilo players Stallion Laguna F.C. players Team Socceroo F.C. players Men's association football midfielders Sportspeople from Thousand Oaks, California Soccer players from Ventura County, California Loyola Marymount Lions men's soccer players Expatriate men's footballers in Thailand American expatriate men's soccer players American expatriate sportspeople in the Philippines American expatriate sportspeople in Thailand Diego Barrera Major Indoor Soccer League (2008–2014) players